Manufacturing execution systems (MES) are as such known from the prior art. MES are also referred to as computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,970,758 shows a method for collecting data from process and metrology tools in a semiconductor manufacturing environment, for generating statistics from that data, detecting tool failures, processing errors, and performing high level process control in the form of tool shutdowns, lot holds, and lot releases. The collection and recording of data from process and metrology tools, the configuration of data collection, and automation of process equipment shutdowns is performed within the framework of an existing MES and engineering data collection system. Automation of configurations and data collection is conducted by creation of data collection plans, data collection capability specifications, and other versioned documents within a process control and data collection system. These versioned documents may be generated through a common graphical user interface and presented via an Internet web browser or other network interface. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,772,034; 6,839,713 and 7,069,101 show similar methods and systems.